A TILLINGHAM man has been told he will appear before a Crown Court judge next month when he is sentenced for collecting images of child sex abuse.
Luke Halenko, 22, was arrested in 2022 and charged last year after police received intelligence he had downloaded more than 30 indecent images.
Ten images were Category A – the most serious kind – 14 were Category B, and nine were Category C.
Rohini Majumdar, prosecuting, said: “Police were alerted to the defendant based on intelligence there were indecent images of children access on devices linked to the defendant.
“They obtained a search warrant and attended the defendant’s home address where all devices were seized.
“One of these devices was downloaded, examined and contained Category A, B, and C images of children.”
She continued: “The Crown would submit you have the option to commit to sentence in this matter.
“You may wish to give consideration to the number of images for each category whether you would wish to retain jurisdiction for sentencing or not.”
Halenko, of North Street, Tillingham, admitted three charges of making an indecent image of a child.
Denise Cole, mitigating, argued the offending is not serious enough to be heard by a Crown Court judge, adding magistrates had appropriate powers to pass sentence.
She said: “My application today on behalf of the defendant is to adjourn the matter for a full pre-sentence report to prepare on him.
“He is 22 – you will see the offences took place in 2022.
“At the time, he was 19.
“I believe the court will benefit from a bit more detail about the defendant and what was going on his life at the time when the offences took place.
“There are 33 images in total – I will respectfully submit, [that is] not a lot, and you do have enough powers to deal with this matter.
“He has got no previous convictions – there might be avenues the probation service may be able to explore in terms of rehabilitation in the community.”
The magistrates’ legal advisor recommended the case was sent to the Crown Court for sentencing because Halenko admitted to three offences.
He will be sentenced before Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday, January 6.
Share